The present invention relates to dynamoelectric machines capable of operating either in a motor mode, or in a generator mode, a machine of a desired output being made of an appropriate number of modular units disposed end to end so as to drive a common output shaft, or be driven by a common input shaft.
Dynamoelectric machines are generally built in diverse power outputs, machines of different outputs being of different overall sizes. The size, such as overall length and overall diameter, increases as a function of the power output. This requires that a given design of a dynamoelectric machine, such as an electric motor or an electric generator, be scaled by extrapolation and interpolation according to the desired power output to be obtained. Consequently, in mass production, different and separate manufacturing and assembly lines must be provided in a manufacturing plant, one line for each dynamoelectric machine of a given power output. In the alternative, a batch of dynamoelectric machines of a given power output must be manufactured and the finished machines stored. The manufacturing and assembly line is then changed and reset for producing machines of a different power output which is turn must be stored until stocks of machines are exhusted, at which time the manufacturing and assembly line must be again reset A large inventory of many different parts and part sizes must be carried at all times.
The present invention remedies such inconveniences by providing singular modular units which, in a given range, are all the same in dimension and structure, and by permitting to obtain dynamoelectric machines of appropriate power outputs according to the number of modular units coupled end to end to a single output or input shaft. The result is that only a single manufacturing and sub-assembly line is required in a manufacturing plant, the inventory of components and sub-assemblies is considerably reduced, and motors or generators of required outputs may be provided on demand, at lost cost and on short delivery terms.
Another advantage of the present invention is that only a single dimension, the length of the dynamoelectric machine, within a range of outputs, increases as a function of output power, while the diameter of the dynamoelectric machine remains constant.